26 September - Papeete

Monday 26 September – Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia

I have put the full name in the heading of our port stop today just to make it clear where we are. French Polynesia is made up of several island groups. So many people think Tahiti is the port stop when it is actually Papeete which is the capital of French Polynesia and located on the island of Tahiti which is part of the Leeward Island group. Moorea, Raiatea, Taaha and Bora Bora are some of the other better known islands in this group.

So with that little bit of background it may be more apparent that Papeete of itself is a large town like any other town with nothing much to recommend it; somewhat like Noumea in New Caledonia. What you need to do is get out of the town and see the island of Tahiti, which is exactly what we had planned.

I had found a tour which another cruising friend had been on earlier in the year. A local Tahitian who takes you on a tour of his family’s valley. Twelve generations of his family have lived here and they are very proud of their valley and its natural beauty.

Sun rising as we approach Papeete

Dockside from our balcony

Always a warm welcome from the locals

Before we headed off on our tour Anita and Tracy and Jim all went across to the marketplace. Both Anita and Tracy wanted to buy black pearls. Anita had bought some on her previous visit and she found the shop without no difficulty. Tracy kindly provided me with photos of the market from the upper level of shops. Such a beautiful and colourful sight.

We had a marvellous day with Teiva who stopped all along he way explaining about plants, flowers, trees and mountains. At one stop he talked about growing up in the valley and how his grandfather would call him to come home by clouting a rock against a particular tree. He demonstrated this and it was amazing to hear the echo resound around us. I wondered how far away you could be to still be able to hear this call home.

Moorea, the hauntingly beautiful island to the north of Tahiti

Teiva showed us this local flower which is the one primarily used for decoration. The stamens are removed to avoid the staining from the pollen

A similar fern to the 'silver fern' found in NZ, but the silver side of this one will leave a 'tattoo' if pressed onto anything

The lush interior of the island of Tahiti

The road less travelled

The local 'telephone'

Crossing the river on the lower level. The high level bridge is on the right

Teiva was very creative and patient taking photos of everyone

Teiva our local Tahitian guide

Loads of fun and laughter with our travelling companions, Tracy, Jim and Anita

Our 'safari' vehicle

US forces were on the island undergoing exercises. This chap was harder to spot in the undergrowth than the photograph suggests

Lots of beautiful waterfalls along the way

We had a stop by the river for a refreshing swim before finally climbing our way up to our lunch stop. The tarmac road surface had long since finished and apart from the occasionally concreted section provided to stop the road washing away with water crossing the road, it was definitely a good thing we were in a 4WD.

A local orchid species

Our lunch stop was high up on top of a ridge and the views were spectacular. The food was simple but good. It was a welcome break from the jostling around in the back of the vehicle, which was really like a safari vehicle we had been in during our tour of Namibia in Africa – not particularly comfortable!

View from our lunch stop

Local Tahitian beer

As we approached the main river crossing, we were obliged to take the high level bridge because this US helicopter was about to drop down beside the river

Additional forces were swapped from and into the helicopter

And it took off again

The local police patrol the road. Teiva is well known

After lunch we opted for returning to the coast and seeing some other sights there. So we headed for the blowhole, the lighthouse and the black sand beach.

The blowhole was not like any we have seen before. There were a number of holes which funnelled down into a sea cave below. One which was in the top of the cave simply made a growling sound as air was forced into the cave by the power of the sea entering the cave. Others lower down spewed sea spray forcefully out the small holes which have been created by weakness in the lava.

Venus Point lighthouse, used by Captain Cook for the transit of Venus in 1769

Mausoleum of the last king of Tahiti

Teiva was a very knowledgeable and entertaining guide and we thoroughly enjoyed our day with him.

Night market trucks just setting up below where we were docked

We had promised ourselves dinner here as we were docked until midnight

Portions were huge, so we shared a prawn, noodles and vegetables dish

Radiance waiting silently in the evening